Anyone who's picked up a pigskin at least once in his life knows that math doesn't have much use on the football field. Four downs, 100 yards, 15 minutes, four quarter - that's about it.
So then why does the NFL's Scouting Combine make college players take the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test, a 12-minute, 50-question standardized exam that includes word problems and algebra?
Just as the other Combine tests measure a player's strength and stamina, the Wonderlic measures how they use their heads. But critics like to point out that a high score doesn't always equal success on the field.
Vince Young is said to have scored a 16, while Pat McInally, a Harvard grad and former Bengals punter, is the only player to ever score a perfect 50. Pat who?
SAMPLE WONDERLIC QUESTIONS - Answers are below
Copyright WONDERLIC, used by permission
1. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one:
a) True
b) False
c) Not Certain?
"The boy plays baseball. All baseball players wear hats. The boy wears a hat."
2. Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will 4 pads cost?
3. How many of the five items listed below are exact duplicates?
4. Preserve | Reserve -- Do these words:
a) have similar meanings
b) have contradictory meanings
c) mean neither the same nor opposite?
5. A train travels 20 feet in 1/5 second. At this same speed, how many feet will it travel in three seconds?
6. When rope is selling at $.10 a foot, how many feet can you buy for sixty cents?
7. The ninth month of the year is:
a) October
b) January
c) June
d) September
e) May.
8. Which number in the following group of numbers represents the smallest amount?
a) 7
b) .8
c) 31
d) .33
e) 2
9. Three individuals form a partnership and agree to divide the profits equally. X invests $9,000, Y invests $7,000, and Z invests $4,000. If the profits are $4,800, how much less does X receive than if the profits were divided in proportion to the amount invested?
10. A boy is 17 years old and his sister is twice his age. When the boy is 23 years old, what will be the age of his sister?
Scroll down for answers!
Answers: 1. True; 2. 84 cents; 3. 1; 4. 1; 5. 300 feet; 6. 6 feet; 7. September; 8. .33; 9. $560; 10. 40